CLICK HERE FOR FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES, LINK BUTTONS AND MORE! »

Monday, July 29, 2013

Hundreds of FREE BOOKS!

I recently found an AMAZING freebie and wanted to share with you! Someone pinned about We Give Books , a free online database of hundreds of free children books! They have them in age groups of 0-3, 4-7, and 8-10. I have seen places of free kindle books, but what makes this one awesome, they are actually GOOD books my kids would love to read! :)

So go right now and join up! The more we read from this site, the more books they add to it!


Educents

If you have not heard about Educents, PLEASE follow them through facebook and their website!

On their website sign up for the daily alerts via email, they have amazing deals! Majority of their education deals are 30-50% off, but right now I just scored Foreign Language activity ebooks and 38 audio lessons for $0.00! Here's the info you get at this link:

Petra Lingua Activity Books for learning Spanish, French, German, Russian, AND Chinese! You’ll receive both the downloadable Activity eBook AND audio version of these fun-filled activities to help you learn the language of your choice. Each Activity Book covers everyday topics such as greetings, family, school, colors, animals, numbers, body parts, food, seasons and much more. Includes 52 pages of exercises to help you practice and improve your vocabulary and language skills!
Who is it for?
  • Designed for kids ages 3-10 
  • Also suitable for grownups who want to learn a new language the fun way! 
What is included?
  • Activity Book: eBook AND Audio format
    • Spanish
    • French
    • German
    • Russian
    • Chinese
Why buy?
  • 100% free to download! 
  • Practice a language the fun way 
  • Write, listen, and draw your way to fluency
How does the deal work?
  • PDF and audio file download
  • These should be used as a supplement to a language course
  • MUST USE AUDIO ALONG WITH WORKBOOK

How awesome is that?! Enjoy ;)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

My Story...

So I figured, I would start my 1st post on how I got "here." I will be painfully honest, I never thought I had "homeschooling" in me. I have 2 friends in different states, who homeschools; and you would here me say "I just don't have the patience for that." In my life, homeschooling moms were The Duggers, or families in Utah- I just really had NO idea! *Hangs head in shame.*

This past school year for my oldest, Hailey, in 2nd grade all of a sudden was "failing" in 2nd grade with reading and handwriting. I asked over and over with teachers and even the principal, for help or even to test her. Nothing. I finally have a conference (at the middle of the yr, and they said I had to wait for another 9 weeks) so here I am 9 weeks prior only help I got was 2x a week a handwriting class, I tell the teacher my frustration and the principal had not even talked about evaluating or other help. I decided then, after seeing tears in my daughter's eyes that she had "failed" not only her family but herself (in her opinion,) that I would look into Homeschooling. I felt and still feel, that my daughter fell thru the cracks. I have spent the last 5 months researching till the end of nights it seemed, but I'm pretty happy and exciting to start! :)

My main worry was about my little munchkin Addison, who is 2.5 years old. How will I be able to school my olders with a dancing table dancer? Then with my research, I found Tot School!  I'm reciting one of my FAVORITE blogs about Tot School: 1+1+1=1

Tot School isn't really school at all!  Don't let the name confuse you!  Tot School is basically a focused time each day on the tot in your family.  For those of us with older children who are homeschooled, we often place a lot of emphasis on them while the tots just *play.*  This isn't bad, it just didn't work for me.  Personally, I felt I was losing valuable 1 on 1 time with my precious tot that I had with my first child since he was the only one then.  Tot School is the time each day I spend with my tot, exposing early learning skills through FUN play.  Tot School is not forced, is always fun, sometimes doesn't happen the way I plan, and is always focused on my tot.

Tot School is fun.  If it becomes un-fun, something is wrong!  I personally do not believe in forcing early learning, I only believe in exposing.  Some of my "best" ideas are rejected by my tot :), she knows best when it comes to Tot School!
I'm SO excited to have everything in place its been a LONG road (or its seemed.) Since my oldest is recovering from Tonsil removal surgery, I have a start date as Aug 12th or 19th. Stay tune for my curriculum for this year, freebies I find and pin, and more!